Tag Archives: maggie stiefvater

Howdy y’all! Last April, our Fanboy Book Club Book of the Month was a book that I found to be refreshingly engrossing what with such an unusual concept and subject that most books usually don’t revolve around. It is:

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

This happened to be my first read from Maggie Stiefvater and also my first read about equestrian creatures. Simply put, it was about deadly horses and equally deadly horse racing of which did not fall short on giving us an epic and beautiful storyline.

To discuss it more in detail, however, the book is much more than horses and horse racing, as opposed to what the title may lead us to believe. I found that it goes much deeper than that: it’s about being connected with your roots, embracing it, and loving it. The two main characters, Sean Kendrick and Puck Connoly, perfectly exhibit this. Judging from what you may read in the book, there is nothing more that these two will love than being with their horses and staying in the island that has watched them grow, Thisby. I especially like how much they love the horses and the island so much that it’s almost impossible for a reader not to feel the same way. I may be speaking for myself – But then again, maybe not. 😉

Despite being a book the Fanboy Book Club has picked, I am thoroughly pleased having read some undertones of feminism in the text. It was shown in several scenes of which occur because the men competing in the Scorpio Races believe that the races are no place for a mere girl like Puck.

It was delineated very well in the story with Puck keeping her stand with letting her, girl, compete in the Scorpio Races despite practically everyone in the island telling her to quit and she showed that just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean her opportunities are limited. As I have always said, I feel quite frustrated with how society dictates that girls should only do girl things and boys should do boy things when both sexes are very much capable of doing anything if they set their mind to it.

In the book, these pestilent water horses are called capaille uisce. The very facts that they are bloodthirsty and deadly are what makes the locals afraid and tremble before them. But despite this, they still admire the capaille uisce for their beauty, speed, and strength. Corr, being one himself, embodies how things could be monstrous and beautiful at the same time; how you could still love something that has potential to lead you to your demise or utter happiness; how much you can love and connect with your roots, no matter how complex and daunting it may seem.

The race itself was swift and vivid. As I read it, visualizing the race wasn’t hard and it made it easier to immerse myself in the book. Although it didn’t last long as others have expected it to, I couldn’t think how it could have been executed more perfectly.

And let me just put it out here that I most especially appreciate that finally, we got to read a romance that did not ruin the book but even made it better. The blossoming affection between Sean and Puck was there but it didn’t go in the way of what the story wanting to push for. Most fantasy books tend to lean more on the romance and forget the action-filled aspect of the book. It did not happen here and it makes me so happy.

Overall, the story was well-paced and so beautifully written that by the end of the book you’ll want more capaille uisce, more Thisby, more ocean, more Scorpio Races. With all these said, I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

ABOUT ME

I'm a college student taking up BS Entrepreneurship who loves to read books. Lots of them. I love ice cream, cookies and the month of October. Plus coffee is now becoming one of my constant cravings.
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